


Nothing Better

by cheshireree (shyfoxes)



Series: SouRin Week 2016 (Feb 2 -9) [3]
Category: Free!
Genre: Childhood Sweethearts, Gen, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Red String of Fate, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-05
Updated: 2016-02-05
Packaged: 2018-05-18 07:56:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5908966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shyfoxes/pseuds/cheshireree
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>SouRin Week - Day 3 - Aiko Desho: Red String of Fate</p><p>Sousuke's mom makes Rin a potion to find his soul mate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nothing Better

 

Sousuke pointed to the ruby red vial as Rin leaned against his shoulder trying to get a better view of Mrs. Yamazaki's potions shelf. Rin's eyes widened. The vial seemed to sparkle, barely bigger than Mrs. Yamazaki's index finger and yet even Rin could sense the magic in it.

“It's supposedly for helping someone find their soulmate,” Sousuke said, shrugging. “You drink it and for a few days it makes you and your soulmate have a kind of magnetic pull so you can find each other.”

“That's so romantic,” Rin whispered.

He elbowed Sousuke when he wrinkled his nose in distaste. Sousuke shifted away from Rin, peeking into his mother's cauldron. It was still a bit messy from her last potion. But his mother had always hated cleaning the thing anyway. Rin kept staring at the vial, twisting his hands into the fabric of his shorts.

“Aren't you curious at all? Your soulmate could be anywhere. Right in Sano or halfway across the world,” Rin said. “What if they marry someone who's not you?”

Sousuke shrugged again; “Then I'd either be alone or find someone else to spend my life with.”

He shot Rin a funny look but said nothing. Rin scoffed, shoving his hands into his pockets indignantly. Sousuke was about as romantic as a rock – but then Rin might argue even the rock had more romance in it than Sousuke did.

“You're no fun. I'd love to know who I'm destined to be with,” Rin said. “Is it a hard potion to make?”

“Not at all!” Mrs. Yamazaki chirped, sweeping into the room. Makoto and Haru were perched on either of her shoulders as she dropped her bag to the floor, and reached out to ruffle both Rin and Sousuke's hair.

Makoto and Haru flew from her shoulders and landed on the long wooden perch Mrs. Yamazaki had had made for them at the window. Haru pressed himself tight against Makoto. Rin sighed, a little dreamy, a little crestfallen. Mrs. Yamazaki regarded him with a secret smile.

“That's a very big sigh, Rin. Aren't you too young to be so heart sick?” Mrs. Yamazaki said.

“No way! My mom said she and dad knew each other when they were kids. It wasn't until high school that they realized that they were meant for each other,” Rin said, proudly. “She said there's a red string of fate that connects them, even if he's gone now.”

Rin to his credit didn't tear up when he said it, though Sousuke felt himself hover as if to reach out on reflex to comfort his friend. His mother looked briefly at the space between them, considering. She regarded Rin again.

“I see, I see. So, you want to speed the process up a bit, huh? Why wait all those years when you can find out right now, correct?” Mrs. Yamazaki prompted.

“Rin -” Sousuke said, trying to cut in. He was drowned out by Rin's enthusiastic, “That's right!”

Mrs. Yamazaki chuckled. “Well, I can't ignore such earnest feelings. I'll help you out, then. A quick potion shouldn't be too much trouble.”

Sousuke pouted at his mother, though she obviously ignored it. She bumped him with her hip as she tied up her hair. She took her wand out from her dress pocket and looked around the room. Mrs. Yamazaki poised her wand up before sweeping it sharply in the air. A wind blew threw, forcing a recipe book open to the page desired. Glass bottles and vials began to fly, swaying in the air as Mrs. Yamazaki looked between them.

Rin's eyes widened, creeping along and looking up at the floating bottles. With a flick of her wrist, the bottles began to descend. A green liquid, some strange ash, pink petals, and what looked like bark. Makoto stood a little straighter on his perch, nudging Haru who didn't budge at all. A big wooden spoon danced up, diving into the cauldron and began to stir. Mrs. Yamazaki nodded at Sousuke who begrugingly went up to Rin.

“I need a strand of your hair,” Sousuke said. “Do you mind?”

Rin habitually touched the back of his head, petting his own hair. He shook his head, making to pluck out one himself before Sousuke's hands were covering his own. He looked at him seriously, blue eyes boring into Rin's for a moment. He bent his head over Rin's shoulder, hair tickling Rin's ear. He stroked at the back of Rin's head, feeling at his locks. Rin almost didn't even feel the pluck as Sousuke pulled back, one maroon strand in hand. He looked at it a bit funny before he went to the cauldron and dropped it in.

“That personalizes it,” Sousuke explained. “Love potions and stuff need to be personal. Or else it'll cause trouble.”

Rin nodded, standing next to Sousuke. Mrs. Yamazaki motioned for all the vials and bottles to return to their respective places as she came to stand before the cauldron. She grabbed the wooden spoon and began to stir herself.

“Despite how much we make, only a little is actually usable,” Mrs Yamazaki said. “We're going to let it sit for about an hour and then it's all yours. Give it a day to fully kick in and you and your soulmate should be feeling as if you need to be somewhere!” She winked.

Beside Rin, Sousuke was glaring at the broad side of the cauldron, quiet. There was nothing left to say, he figured. So long as Rin still wanted to come by, then he didn't care if Rin ever got his soulmate or not. He just hoped he'd always keep visiting.

Mrs. Yamazaki took a vial from her other pocket, uncorking it with her thumb. She raised the spoon and carefully poured it in, only a drop falling to her thumb. She recorked it and shook it a bit, content with how the color was swirling into a vibrant red. She showed it to Rin.

“Good to go!” Mrs. Yamazaki said. “So how about lunch? I thought we'd good with our hands this time! I'm sure I'll get it this time.”

“You burn toast, mom,” Sousuke said, jokingly. She playfully flicked him on his cheek.

“You're not good at magic but you can cook with the best of them,” Mrs. Yamazaki said with a sigh. “It can't be helped. You're still young, anyway.”

She put Rin's potion up on the shelf and ushered them into the kitchen. Rin glanced over his shoulder at it, hoping the hour would go quickly.

-

Rin held the vial between both hands when he finished washing up for bed. He sat up on the edge of the bed just staring at it, considering. More than anything he wanted to know. It couldn't harm anything to just _find_ them. He glanced up at his bedroom door, hearing no one coming, and then downed it in one gulp. He scrunched up his face; it was too sweet. He hated sweet things. But the after taste was pleasant enough. Rin wasn't sure if there supposed to be something grand or even a spark to say that it had worked, but he didn't feel any different. He waited a few more minutes and still nothing.

Sighing, he resigned himself to bed. Tomorrow would bring results, he hoped.

-

Still nothing out of the ordinary. Rin walked with his mother around Sano, holding her hand and Gou's as they ran errands. He looked at the people passing, mostly kids he encountered near his age. Yet other than a brief glance Rin felt no pull towards them. Heck, he felt no pull at all.

Gou looked at him quizzically, not understanding why he was fidgety today. He looked at her sheepishly but said nothing. She didn't need to know about the love potion thing. He hadn't even told her about Sousuke, and he normally told her almost anything.

It continued like that for the rest of the day, no soulmate to be found. In the days he didn't visit Sousuke, so fixated on finding out if his soulmate would appear, Rin grew fretful. Maybe he didn't even have one? Maybe there were so far away that the magnetic pull just wasn't even registering? Three days after taking the potion, Rin fought back the urge to tear up and buried his face into his pillow.

He'd see Sousuke tomorrow. That always brightening things up. Sousuke's dumb grumpy face, and lazy self, and stupid dares were what Rin needed. He reached under his pillow to the charm that Sousuke's mother had given him the day he'd met his best friend and held onto it. He fell asleep more content that he'd been the last few days.

-

“Maybe my soul mate's really far away, like Canada or Argentina,” Rin said, thoughtfully. “Maybe that's why I can't feel them. What do you think?”

Sousuke was quiet a moment before he finally spoke. “I think soul mates are dumb. There's no such thing as destiny, is there?”

Rin shoved him in the shoulder. “Shut up, stupid! My mom says its real, so it is. Destiny doesn't even matter, just the fact that there's someone out there that's perfect for you in the right ways!”

Sousuke furrowed his brows, giving up on shoving back. He rubbed the back of his neck as he saw Rin's face scrunch up in indignation. If he pushed Rin any harder he'd start to cry and that's the last thing Sousuke wanted. He was a sucker for Rin's tears every time.

“I didn't mean to insult your parents, Rin,” Sousuke said. “Just, I got kind of scared, okay? What if you find them and forget about me? I really like being your friend.”

Rin looked at him, confused. “Who says that I'd forget you?”

“Well, you'd want to devote all your time to your soul mate, right? They're the one most perfect for you. So what do you need me around for?” Sousuke muttered.

Rin really did shove him this time, knocking him back as he fell over on him. The tears had gathered in the corners of his eyes anyway, despite Sousuke's hesitation. Sousuke froze, trapped between the ground and Rin's crying face.

“I would never do that, stupid, _stupid_ Sousuke!” Rin said, beating a fist against Sousuke's chest. “You're my best friend. No one will ever get in the way of that. Aside from mom, and Gou, you're definitely who I think of first!”

Sousuke flushed, looking away at the ground. Rin thumped his chest again, rattling him a bit. Sousuke reached up and petted at Rin's hair, trying to hush him from crying anymore. Rin sniffled loudly, still muttering that he was stupid.

“Actually,” Sousuke mumbled. “There's one more thing. Mom suggested it before we left the house when she heard the potion didn't work.”

Sousuke fished around in his pocket and pulled out a red piece of yarn. He gently pushed Rin back a little, and took one of his hands. He secured one end of the yarn to Rin's pinky. He put the little pile into Rin's hand and motioned at him with his own pinky.

“She says there's a lot of different types of soul mates. So, until the one you really want comes along, will you be fine with having me?” Sousuke said, blushing harder.

Rin searched Sousuke's face, clenching and unclenching the yarn before diving down and hugging Sousuke tightly. Sousuke yelped and squirmed but Rin didn't budge. The collar of Sousuke's shirt got wet. When Rin pulled back he hurriedly tied the string to Sousuke's pinky and held up his own.

“I'll be more than fine,” Rin said, his laugh a bit watery. “If I never find them, then I'll just spend the rest of my life with you! There's nothing better than that.”

Sousuke smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, I think so, too.”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> original link ----->http://cheshire-ree.tumblr.com/post/138710116598/sourin-week-day-3-aiko-desho-red-string-of
> 
> They were eight in the last fic, so they're still eight here. Though sometimes when I reread what I wrote, it feels like they're a bit older. 
> 
> I promised some magic if I ever continued and for once I have continued! There are two other fics that I want to continue with. I'll get there but for now, I'm happy I was able to keep going with this. In this universe, certain potions don't work on witches, especially if they're the ones that made it, particularly love potions. But in truth, the love potion wasn't real. Mrs. Yamazaki wasn't about to go giving little kids potent magical potions after all, but she did do some nudging in the right direction (AKA, she helped her thick headed son realize a few things). 
> 
> Tell me what you think! 
> 
> original witch's son Sou inspired by Cyan Candy's fic ------>http://archiveofourown.org/works/5118896


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